Death sentence turned into acquittal? Who told him to be a detective!

Chapter 285 New Case! [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]

The Blue Shield Law Firm has officially changed hands, its signboard has been removed, dozens of lawyers have scattered like birds and beasts, and even the founder, Sister Zhang, had no choice but to leave Qingshi City.

It's safe to say that Blue Shield Law Firm is dead as good as dead!
The building itself is in pretty good condition; the interior decoration was mostly undamaged. Only some computers were taken away, but the basic facilities, such as the telephone used for receiving inquiries, are still there.

"What can I do for you?"

Xu Liang asked softly.

"Rest assured, our law firm is more professional and efficient than Blue Shield, and has a very strong team of lawyers!"

"What Blue Shield can handle, we can handle; what Blue Shield can't handle, we can handle too!"

What does this phone call mean?
This is his first case in Qingshi City!
Whether we can get off to a good start depends entirely on the other side!

After he finished speaking, there was no sound from the other end of the phone for a long time. Xu Liang was not in a hurry and waited patiently without urging him.

After a long silence, the other party finally spoke:

"I'm in Zhengyang City. Can you come over for a face-to-face meeting?"

Zhengyang City?
What kind of place is Zhengyang City?
Xu Liang paused for a moment, several place names flashing through his mind.

Qingshi City, Jiangcheng, Sunzhou, and Hanhai City.
He knew every region of Lanshan Province by heart, but he still couldn't find a place called Zhengyang City.

Until Su Yu beside him spoke softly:
"It's not Lanshan Province, it's the neighboring Nanhai Province."

South China Sea next door
Upon receiving the prompt, Xu Liang's mind raced, and soon, information about Zhengyang City in the South China Sea Province came to mind.

Nanhai Province remains a major province in the East, and its strategic value is extremely important!
The province boasts abundant mineral resources, with a wide variety of minerals and reserves ranking among the top in the country. At the same time, it promotes agriculture and can be considered one of the major grain-producing areas in the country.

But similarly, both of these things can lead to one thing, which is...
poverty!
The South China Sea Province is relatively poor. Its mining and agriculture sectors have prevented its cities from keeping up with modernization. It also lags behind other provinces in terms of technology, information, and finance. Therefore, it is often subconsciously perceived as 'poor'.

of course.

Xu Liang didn't care about any of this; he only knew one thing.

The customer is king!

"Zhengyang City? Good, it's not far from us."

"Could you please tell me your exact location, and could you please elaborate on your specific needs?"

After a moment's thought, Xu Liang replied.

Cases usually require a face-to-face meeting, and the other party made a very reasonable request.

The problem is that the tone suggests the law firm should send a lawyer to the other party, rather than the other party going to the law firm on their own initiative!

But it doesn't really matter.

After all, even if the other party comes to Qingshi City, the case does not belong to Qingshi City. After accepting the commission, they still have to take the person back to Zhengyang City to file a lawsuit.

Going early or late makes no difference, unless you go and still don't reach an agreement, in which case the ticket, time, and energy you've wasted are all for nothing.

Therefore, it's best to ask beforehand.

"I'm Zhang Shan, from Rundong Weaving Factory in Zhengyang Chengyang Mountain Valley!"

A slightly excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

Then, as if avoiding something, he quickly lowered his voice.

Xu Liang asked again, "Mr. Zhang, may I ask what your request is? Or have you encountered a difficult problem?"

After a moment, the other party lowered their voice and said:
"I...I can't explain it."

He mumbled for a long time, but no matter what he did, he couldn't explain his current situation.

Xu Liang pondered for a moment and vaguely sensed something.

'An economic dispute? If it's an economic dispute, that's hard to explain, but why are you lowering your voice?'

'That's a bit strange.'

Xu Liang pondered for a moment, but in any case
"You could give it a try; a round trip by plane takes four hours!"

"Okay, Zhengyang City, Yangshangou Rundong Weaving Factory, is that right?"

“I’ve noted it down, Mr. Zheng. I will bring my team over around tomorrow afternoon to discuss the commission with you.”

Hear the words.

The person on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief, and said somewhat nervously:
"Thank you. When you arrive at the factory, just tell them you're looking for Zhang."

Before he could finish speaking, a beeping sound suddenly rang in his ear.

这 是
The call was disconnected!?
Xu Liang was slightly taken aback, then his face lit up with realization.

"It's probably a phone bill."

The other party was probably on a landline. These days, there's only one landline in 13 households in the countryside, and mobile phones are even rarer.

Normally, if you want to make a phone call, you have to borrow someone's phone. If you can't borrow one, you can go to a convenience store and pay a certain amount of money to exchange for phone call time.

"Now what?"

Yang Ruoxi asked suspiciously.

"Let's fly to Zhengyang City tomorrow."

Xu Liang put the landline back in its place and said casually.

The words fell.

Liu Xun and Zhang Cheng, who came with him, were slightly surprised and said:

"Director Xu, are you really going to take this case?"

"Why not answer?" Xu Liang asked with a smile.

Zhang Cheng and Liu Xun paused, hesitating, afraid that what they said would displease Xu Liang. But after thinking it over, they finally reminded him, "The other party might not have the money to pay the commission fee."

Unexplained phone call interruptions are usually due to unpaid phone bills, or as Xu Liang guessed.

However, both of these often indirectly prove the fact that they are "poor" or "have no money"!
Otherwise, in theory, if it were an accident, the other party should have paid or topped up their phone credit long ago before calling back!
So, that guy named Zhang Shan is most likely broke!

"After the commission is completed, there is a high possibility that I will get into an economic dispute with the client."

Zhang Cheng began to speak, explaining slowly.

He's a veteran lawyer, and what he's saying is all based on his own personal experience.

Economic disputes plus handling the entrusted matters—it'll probably take half a year to finish both. If it were a large sum of money, that would be fine, but unfortunately…
"It probably doesn't involve much money," Liu Xun explained.

"It might be a waste to fly there!"

In other words, you can't even make back the cost of the plane ticket!
"It's alright. The law firm will eventually expand its business outside the province. Zhengyang City might be an opportunity. We can experience the judicial system outside the province first."

Xu Liang spoke up, not thinking that what the other party said was excessive.

Lawyers are human too; they need to eat. They can't expend their energy doing things for free. Kindness is fine, but not too much.

For a lawyer, the most important thing in a case is the retainer's fee!

Using moral pressure to force someone to take on a case is no different from saying things like, "You treat the company like your own home, is this how you repay the company?"

In fact, the fact that the two of them dared to say these things to Xu Liang shows that they didn't consider Xu Liang and the others as outsiders.

The key is
"As you know, the judicial systems of each province are somewhat different, and it is inevitable that business will be conducted outside the province. Understanding this in advance will allow you to make plans and avoid being taken advantage of later."

Xu Liang began to explain slowly.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng and Liu Xun pondered for a moment and then nodded.

The judicial environment varies from province to province.

To give the most intuitive example.

Shangcheng and Arashiyama Province!

The considerations, worries, and difficulties involved in litigating in these two regions are completely different. If you rashly take on a case in the city and try to litigate in Arashiyama Province, you'll probably end up getting hurt and ridiculed as a fool!
Seeing that no one objected anymore, Xu Liang stopped talking and instead spoke:

"By the way, have Xia Yao and the others come to Qingshi City, and finish the business in Hanhai City as soon as possible."

The business value of the provincial capital is always higher than that of the business entrusted by Hanhai City.

If I miss a day, I'll earn a day less!

After the arrangements were made.

The group began to familiarize themselves with the structure of the new office building.

Ordinary law firms are similar to small companies, renting a floor in an office building, or even just a few offices.

But the current law firms are different.

This is a detached building!
There are five floors in total, with a reception room and a lounge, and the office space is also very impressive. Xu Liang even has his own office!
Inside the top floor office.

Xu Liang sat in the chair, looking at the solid wood desk in front of him, a look of emotion on his face.

"No one would believe that someone like me, who would start as a top-tier lawyer if I were to go for a rating, didn't even have an office in the past!"

As he spoke, a look of regret appeared on his face.

The law firm in Hanhai City consists of only one main office hall and a few reception rooms.

Furthermore, there is no separate office at all!

His approach to taking cases was no different from Wang Feiyu's; he would sit in the office waiting for the phone to ring, and if he felt the case was worthwhile, he would accept it.
Things are different now.

This is the kind of treatment law firm owners should enjoy!
"By the way, Little Sheep, why didn't you reserve an office for yourself before?"

Xu Liang suddenly became interested. He straightened up and looked at Yang Ruoxi, who was looking around with great interest.

In an instant, Yang Ruoxi's expression froze.

"I...I don't have enough funds."

Yang Ruoxi changed the subject and spoke vaguely.

Insufficient funds?
"That can't be right, that house belongs to your family. At most, you should be able to afford the renovation costs. How come you don't have the funds?!" Xu Liang asked in surprise.

Yang Ruoxi's face flushed slightly, her eyes darting away, but she still didn't speak.

Su Yu blinked, then suddenly said, "Could it be that Sister Yang never intended for the law firm to grow big, so she didn't consider her own office environment?"

Let's set aside whether the other party acted on impulse and opened a law firm without considering these factors at all.

If I remember correctly.

Yang Ruoxi's law firm lasted until it went bankrupt, and including the other party, there were only four people left.

From this perspective, there is indeed no need to set up a separate office!
"What do you mean by 'unnecessary'!?"

Yang Ruoxi's face immediately flushed red, and she said:

"I was clearly being considerate of my subordinates. Working in the same place as them helps to build team cohesion!"

"Besides, how could I say I haven't considered the legal aspect? It's precisely because I'm a lawyer that I don't need an office!"

For example, Xu Liang usually only takes on criminal cases, which means he has to be out 24 hours a day.

The effect of an office job is negligible; only financial cases require sitting in a chair for extended periods!

so.
"How can they be the same!?"

(End of this chapter)